What exactly is cognitive biases in a simple term?
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In psychology, there are basically explicit and implicit cognitive biases. Explicit cognitive biases are things you’re aware of. For example, “I really sympathize with the plight of starving kids in other countries, so I’m going to act on that by donating or something.” Implicit cognitive biases are subtle, unconscious, and often, very difficult to identify on your own. For example, you may not realize it, but you may go through your day avoiding eye contact with certain groups of people, or physically being further away, even when passing in a hallway. Implicit biases are very difficult to overcome. To see your own implicit biases, look up Harvard Implicit Association Test. You can take them for free.
Please note, it can be really jarring to learn your biases. They can even be at odds with explicit biases. It’s a fascinating field of study. My career path has afforded me the opportunity to do a lot of research about this, especially as it related to people with autism and neurotypical people’s attitudes toward them.
Edit: wanted to add, literally everyone has implicit biases. They are completely unavoidable.
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